Happy Friday Eve everyone! It’s February and I can’t believe us Marylanders have made it this far without one snow storm! I hope mother nature is just saving it all up for one massive blizzard 😛

This month, in the spirit of Valentine’s Day, I want to talk about a special relationship that no one talks about, a running partner! I have had a running partner for about 9 years and he has been critical to my training. So each week in February, I will be writing a special post about running partnerships.

For this week’s post, let’s start out with the basics, the benefits of a running partner. There are a TON of benefits I could put down but then this would become a novel and not a blog post 🙂 So here we go!

Reason #1: Accountability

I run outside year round. From every weather condition from 85 degrees to 9 degrees, sunny to rain and wind, you’ll see me out there. How do I do this consistently? Easy, my obligation to my running partner. If someone is waiting outside for you in the freezing cold at zero dark-thirty, you are not hitting the snooze button. Period.

Reason #2: Support

It’s nice to have a cheerleader AND be a cheerleader for someone else. When I’m going on my first 20 mile training run of the season, I know I can count on my running partner to say “you got this!” and make sure I am hydrated and fueled. Let’s face it, not everyone is going to be excited about your running (haters gonna hate) but you know your running partner is going to be there every step of the way (pun intended).

Reason #3: Fun!

Through the miles, you will see and do lots of funny things. My running partner and I constantly bring up the time we were at a race and the volunteers (cough paroles cough) were, well, I guess out doing community service?? There was a street that runners had to cross to get to the starting line and a volunteer was placed there to help assist with traffic. There were these two tiny cones that apparently you had to cross between. But with the large crowd, you couldn’t see them. The volunteer would yell aggressively “I SAID CROSS BETWEEN THE CONES!!!” At some point we were almost certain he was going to take out his glock and start shooting in the air LOL!

Reason #4: Safety

This is probably one of the best reasons to have a running partner. As a young female, it can be nerve wrecking to be running in the dark and hear a wrestling in the bush or see a silhouette walking down the street. It’s especially scary after this past summer when 3 women were brutally murdered while running. My running partner always walks me to my house after our run and checks on me during a run. I’m definitely thankful for my running partner!

Ok that wraps up the first post for our running partner series, but in other news…

I was accepted into the Marine Corps Marathon (MCM) Runners Club!!!

I am BEYOND excited about it. By completing 5 Marine Corps Marathons, I am now guaranteed annual access to early registration for the Marine Corps Marathon. No more worrying about the lottery process! I am still undecided about running this year’s race because I am holding out hope that I actually made it into the New York City Marathon. Fingers crossed!

So do you have a running partner? If so, what other benefits can you think of?